The exam over chemical reactions was a little difficult. There were some rules when it came to writing a chemical formula that I didn't understand, therefore making my grade worse. I felt I had a decent understanding over what chemical reactions were, why they took place, and the different kinds. Check out this video here from Kahn Academy about chemical reactions for a good overview of the unit.
One of my problems was also balancing equations. I, regretfully, fell asleep for the balancing equations lesson and never taught myself the lesson. I wasn't so hot on the subject, hurting my grade on the test. Using this practice really helped me, click here.
Precipitate Lab
In this very interesting lab, we put multiple elements with soluble compounds to see if they would create a reaction. We then saw which of the elements had the most amount of reactions to help create a reactivity series. The lab had some really interesting reactions, some I did not even expect, such as the Calcium and Water, which nearly exploded.
Some of the reactions were a pain to clean up!
Precipitate Reactions
Precipitate reactions have to do with how soluble certain elements are with other compounds. Certain reactions can create new gases and solids as a product. This isn't very confusing since it is mostly the same process as all the other reactions we have been learning. After balancing the equations, the states of the elements may change, creating new products. For more information on precipitate reactions, click here.
Also check out this link under the photo.
Also check out this link under the photo.
SigFigs
In order to keep measurements accurate, God gave us wonderful significant figures. Significant Figures are the process where you keep the same number of figures in numbers to keep data accurate. There are many confusing rules with the system such as what zeros are considered to be real and how many decimal places can be used after a certain math function. Click here for a good lesson on SigFigs.
Also check out the link under the picture.
Driving Force Lab
The other day, we performed a lab where we took two aqueous molecules and put them together to see if they would create a solid. The purpose of the lab was to demonstrate how two soluble molecules can create a solid molecule and how the driving forces can affect this process. It was very interesting to see how some of the reactions would cause an instantaneous reaction that would create a completely different color from the original solution.
The first photo shows our group mixing the two original solutions and the second photo shows a couple solid products of the reactions.
Chemical Reactions
We are starting the new unit: Chemical Reactions. I see this unit is going to be a bit tougher than the previous sections we have covered. We are starting off with balancing equations and looking at the driving forces in reactions. This isn't too bad, but I wish I didn't fall asleep for this lesson. I found a great simulation for balancing chemical equations. Check it out here. Also check out the link under the photo for more information.
Chemical Composition Test
We took a test over chemical composition. I'm not going to say it went very well. Some of the questions weren't very hard, but I had to guess on at least five problems because I ran out of time to test. I feel like I didn't do too bad on the rest of the test, so I'm not too worried. Most of the problems were very gross. They didn't contain too much math. I skipped most of the long problems because I didn't have time to simply do them.
Since we're on chemical composition, I'd thought I'd attach a link here about the cosmos since they are so interesting and mysterious. This link will show you the chemical makeup of the entire universe. If you're feeling adventurous, there is much more information on that website just waiting to be read!
Since we're on chemical composition, I'd thought I'd attach a link here about the cosmos since they are so interesting and mysterious. This link will show you the chemical makeup of the entire universe. If you're feeling adventurous, there is much more information on that website just waiting to be read!
Chemical Formuals
We are learning a process on how to derive the amount of atoms in a chemical formula from the mass of a compound. It's started by finding the individual mass of each element in the compound then the total mass of the compound. After finding the percent of the elements, change them to grams and then convert them to moles. Finally, divided each mole by the smallest mole to get the number of atoms. It isn't a very hard concept. This link here will give explanations to properties certain elements have in chemical equations.
A lab was performed in class to find the amount of Zinc and Chlorine after a chemical reaction. After finding the mass of the compound, the process for finding atoms was used to balance to equation for the compound. If I remember, the compound ended up being ZnCl2. Howeverr, the compound cooking on the hotplate did not smell very good!
A lab was performed in class to find the amount of Zinc and Chlorine after a chemical reaction. After finding the mass of the compound, the process for finding atoms was used to balance to equation for the compound. If I remember, the compound ended up being ZnCl2. Howeverr, the compound cooking on the hotplate did not smell very good!
Chemical Composition Test
Yesterday we had a test over chemical composition. It was mainly a math based test. The different kinds of problems that were covered included converting from mass to atoms, atoms to moles, and finding the amount of water in a compound. It wasn't a very hard test even though I might just be doing the problems completely wrong and I just don't know. At least I think I know how to do it. This might have been a quiz and we still have more of this unit to learn.
Since I'm on the subject of compounds, I thought I'd add a cool link about some toxic compounds here. I'm sure we won't be using any of these chemicals in lab, but make sure to steer clear of them. I won't be very seeing if Bactrachotoxin is actually deadly (which it is)!!!
Since I'm on the subject of compounds, I thought I'd add a cool link about some toxic compounds here. I'm sure we won't be using any of these chemicals in lab, but make sure to steer clear of them. I won't be very seeing if Bactrachotoxin is actually deadly (which it is)!!!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batrachotoxin
I thought the part of this unit that talked about hydrated particles very interesting.
Check out the link under the photo for an excellent example of water and energy exchange in compounds.
The Mole
The mole is unit that is commonly used to express the amount of a substance. It is a combination of a regular mass in grams and the atomic mass. It can be expressed by the Avogadro constant which is about 6.02 x 1023 .
Check out the link under the photo. It has an awesome video explaining the mole. A mole also acts as a converting factor. It can be used to express the mass of a finite number of atoms or vice versa.
Check out the link under the second photo also. It gives a good explanation on mole math and the different kinds of situations the mole can be used in.
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